My take on the meet,
by Ian Smale, president, WPC Vancouver Island Region

Shannon and I left Victoria on the 6:10 AM Port Angeles Ferry, on
Wed., Aug 22nd, and from there took the highway down the east side
of Puget Sound, then took another ferry across Puget Sound to
Edmonds. From there we took i-90 over Snoqualmie Pass, and continued
down to Oregon through Ellensburg to Yakima and onwards. The route
from Ellensburg south was a much more pleasant drive than barreling
down i-5 all the way. I must say however that i-90 has the worst
road surface of any freeway I’ve driven on. It’s a concrete surface,
and the surface has worn down to the point where it’s like you’re
driving over a cobblestone road at high speed. It literally vibrated
the dashboard in the Saratoga!. We arrived in The Dalles around 4:30
that afternoon and checked in at the Shiloh Inn, after a lunch stop
in Ellensburg and a gasoline stop in Yakima.
Since we were a day ahead of time for the meet we spent the next
morning (Thursday) at Fred Meyer picking up bargains! Our meet hosts
– Chesnutts, Benedicts and the others arrived about noon and we
checked in with them for our registration package etc. A relaxing
afternoon was spent catching up on the news with old friends. That
evening after dinner in the hotel restaurant, was the “Slow Drags”
and Ice Cream Social, which was held near the local Chrysler
Dealer’s downtown. After several attempts myself I was able to come
close to the stop point, but the eventual winners were Jon Carson in
his 1961 Chrysler T&C wagon along with Harold Shew in his Valiant
wagon.Friday morning there was a choice
of 2 tours – the “Fruit Loop” Tour or the Maryhill Museum of Art. We
chose the scenic Fruit Loop tour which took us on a leisurely drive
up to a scenic ridge (Rowena Crest) overlooking the Columbia Gorge,
and then on to a Glass Blowing Artisan factory and gallery with a
lot of beautiful glass art and even gorgeous bathroom sinks, and
from there to a lunch stop at the “Gorge White House” which also
featured orchards and a wine-tasting venue. After a leisurely lunch
and chats with friends we headed back to the Shiloh Inn for the
afternoon. As to the other tour to the Maryhill Museum, I heard that
it was fantastic as well, and we would like to see it at some point
whenever we may be back in the area. The Maryhill Museum was once a
mansion constructed in concrete and steel around 100 years ago by a
man named Sam Hill, a Quaker. He eventually turned it into a museum
and it houses many priceless antiques and objet’s d’art. A replica
of Stonehenge that he had constructed sits on the grounds.Friday evening
was dinner on your own, but we managed to get together with Jon and
Patty Carson, Paul and Marja, and Paul and Emmy Knight at a great
place called “Cousins” in downtown Dalles. After that it was back to
the hotel for an evening of the guys - and some gals, tire kicking,
chatting and washing cars back at the hotel parking lot.

Weather through this time was pleasant and not overly hot at all.
Saturday morning dawned with cloudy skies – but no forecast of rain-
as we headed back west about a half hour to the car show at the WAAM
Air Museum. About 40 cars were arranged on the field by 10 AM.
Awards were given out around 2:30 and we managed to win first in our
class! (Chrysler). The WAAM Air Museum is a fantastic venue and a
must see with a large number of
vintage air planes and cars on site. Our lunch was catered there
inside one of the hangers as well. At 6:00 PM Saturday evening
was the cocktail hour and 7:00 PM the banquet began. The one award
that was not given out at the show, “Best of Show” was presented
after the meal, and given out for a 1927 Chrysler Roadster. We were
treated after dinner to listen to Katherine Benedict and her sister
(The Bumperettes!) performing Karaoke to the tune of “Rolling up the
River” with the words changed to reflect our regional meet, much
like what the PentaStars do. Speaking of the PentaStars, we
performed three songs after the Bumperettes, “”I’ll Make You Shine”,
“How Much is that Mopar in the Window” and the ever iconic “Hemis
and Fins” . That was one song each, written by myself, Gene Kahn and
Jon Carson. A fun time was had by all. Sunday morning came ,
and some of us had breakfast together in the hotel restaurant and
then said farewells out in the parking lot as people packed up to
leave for home. We caravanned up again on i-97 along with Gene and
Donna Kahn, Rick and Laurel Berry, Kit Carson, and the Benjaminsons.

The weather on the east side of the Cascades
is always better than the west side, and it held out until we got
close to the top of the pass on i-90 when we ran into a few rain
squalls, which came and went through the afternoon as we drove down
and turned over to and north on i-5. We decided to take the
Tsawassen ferry back home. As we got close to the Blaine Border
crossing, the sun was out again, but not hot out, and then we spied
the border sign that said “50 minute wait”. Oh no, I thought that’s
all we need – and it turned into a full one hour wait. Sitting there
with the car idling for an hour was not pleasant as the old girl
still has a generator, not an alternator, and generators do NOT
charge at idle. Adding to that was the fact that the engine
temperature steadily rose upwards – but not to overheat - as I had
the A/C turned off and put the heater on to take the heat away from
the engine. After we finally got through Customs and started driving
again, the charging system was still on discharge for about 8
minutes until the temperature under the hood went down to normal,
then it began to charge again. Apparently the voltage regulator
and/or the generator do not like to run in high temperatures! By
this time it was nearing 4:30 PM and we were hoping to get on the 6
PM Ferry, but as we neared the terminal the signs said “Possible One
Sailing Wait”. And as you can guess, we didn’t get on until the 7 PM
ferry, which was late as well. We also had to sit idling and
crawling forward outside the ferry terminal in a long line as they
loaded the ferry. At that point I got out of the car and popped the
hood open about a foot to try and keep it cooler! We got home around
9:15 and unpacked the car after a long 12 hour day. And that day
didn’t even include a lunch stop, just snacks in the car. I’ve had
shorter days with further distances that didn’t include a long
border or ferry wait, the likes of which added over 2 hours to the
time! We wish to thank president David Duthie and the members
of the Pacific Wonderland Region who organized and hosted another
enjoyable Regional Northwest Meet.